PMI Numbers–PMP and other Certifications

BY: Collin Quiring

A few years ago, I posted some information about PMI (Project Management Institute) membership and PMP (Project Management Professional) certifications and other data that they routinely share. (That post is here: http://dld.bz/dnY2z )

I was asked if I could update the data and so I did. The updated information is below. There is some new data now with the new certifications – PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMI-ACP. And, they discontinued publishing the number of new members per month in 2013. And, sadly, for myself, as an OPM3 certification holder, PMI doesn’t publish that number in a clear or obvious way.

As I stated in the previous post, it is always important to me to know if a certification and an organization’s membership are of value in the marketplace. And one way to know if it is of value is to see if it is increasing, stagnating or decreasing in numbers (which I take as a reference to importance to employers). It is interesting to me though that there are more PMP certification holders than there are PMI members. I am not sure what that means.

I do also understand that when a certification becomes so prevalent, it becomes irrelevant. A lot of organizations think that if they increase their certification numbers, they then get some sort of relevance or benefit in the marketplace. However, I have seen where a certification is so common that it no longer differentiates individuals as having a particular value or knowledge over another. I don’t know if the PMP is heading that way or not, it is just something to ponder.

This information comes from PMI directly and the caveat is that the month they published it and the month that is listed below for the data is normally one month late. That wasn’t purely consistent over the years (sometimes PMP data was a week or two old and CAPM was a month or two old). So, the months represented below are from the month that PMI published the data.

Here are the numbers that are represented in that chart.

Date

PMPs

Members

Sep-06

206,774

215,367

Oct-06

212,704

219,322

Nov-06

216,200

222,734

Dec-06

221,144

225,432

Jan-07

212,622

230,825

Feb-07

217,519

232,756

Mar-07

223,877

236,871

Apr-07

228,277

238,565

May-07

233,330

241,895

Jun-07

236,996

243,604

Jul-07

242,991

245,175

Aug-07

247,537

245,933

Sep-07

251,782

246,216

Oct-07

256,184

249,860

Nov-07

262,860

251,924

Dec-07

267,367

253,692

Jan-08

273,547

259,172

Feb-08

259,694

260,458

Mar-08

266,146

264,496

Apr-08

272,032

266,747

May-08

278,618

269,458

Jun-08

283,811

271,638

Jul-08

288,838

275,169

Aug-08

295,413

277,221

Sep-08

299,751

280,264

Oct-08

306,706

283,321

Nov-08

311,676

285,209

Dec-08

318,289

287,438

Jan-09

322,250

293,416

Feb-09

327,250

296,377

Mar-09

331,208

302,364

Apr-09

336,051

305,127

May-09

346,053

307,180

Jun-09

359,973

306,980

Jul-09

360,662

306,111

Aug-09

364,542

305,191

Sep-09

364,542

306,180

Oct-09

350,450

308,485

Nov-09

356,419

308,102

Dec-09

361,238

309,715

Jan-10

367,619

314,721

Feb-10

371,014

315,106

Mar-10

375,959

317,962

Apr-10

381,111

317,787

May-10

385,096

317,989

Jun-10

389,726

318,421

Jul-10

393,413

320,388

Aug-10

397,378

323,220

Sep-10

393,413

320,388

Oct-10

397,378

353,220

Nov-10

400,059

327,180

Dec-10

403,220

330,001

Jan-11

409,159

331,697

Feb-11

412,503

334,019

Mar-11

471,475

340,232

Apr-11

420,602

341,906

May-11

423,515

346,730

Jun-11

430,469

349,524

Jul-11

434,839

353,326

Aug-11

437,999

357,770

Sep-11

451,868

362,726

Oct-11

466,163

366,854

Nov-11

464,168

368,349

Dec-11

468,864

370,233

Jan-12

469,051

370,744

Feb-12

467,390

371,575

Mar-12

471,437

377,589

Apr-12

472,799

378,749

May-12

472,102

382,210

Jun-12

477,031

383,118

Jul-12

479,327

386,545

Aug-12

474,948

386,235

Sep-12

484,761

387,199

Oct-12

487,867

388,276

Nov-12

482,015

390,279

Dec-12

494,594

394,851

Jan-13

500,082

395,965

Feb-13

510,434

397,453

Mar-13

546,229

408,465

Apr-13

521,345

411,928

May-13

525,341

418,080

Jun-13

537,413

424,657

Jul-13

545,098

433,470

Aug-13

552,977

435,670

Sep-13

582,224

439,294

Oct-13

583,806

438,681

Nov-13

585,040

438,357

Dec-13

590,416

441,425

Jan-14

593,074

437,573

Feb-14

594,603

439,677

Mar-14

603,216

449,803

Apr-14

605,909

446,959

Along with the PMP, the CAPM has been a long term certification and its numbers have continued to grow as well.

The data behind the chart:

Date

CAPM

Sep-06

1,438

Oct-06

1,546

Nov-06

1,611

Dec-06

1,828

Jan-07

1,828

Feb-07

2,102

Mar-07

2,252

Apr-07

2,390

May-07

2,586

Jun-07

2,714

Jul-07

2,872

Aug-07

3,051

Sep-07

3,215

Oct-07

3,366

Nov-07

3,601

Dec-07

3,799

Jan-08

3,988

Feb-08

4,229

Mar-08

4,410

Apr-08

4,695

May-08

4,971

Jun-08

5,196

Jul-08

5,196

Aug-08

5,708

Sep-08

5,892

Oct-08

6,151

Nov-08

6,428

Dec-08

6,729

Jan-09

6,963

Feb-09

7,207

Mar-09

7,455

Apr-09

7,795

May-09

8,139

Jun-09

8,139

Jul-09

9,126

Aug-09

9,412

Sep-09

9,619

Oct-09

9,787

Nov-09

10,003

Dec-09

10,263

Jan-10

10,444

Feb-10

10,678

Mar-10

10,970

Apr-10

11,234

May-10

11,458

Jun-10

11,785

Jul-10

12,111

Aug-10

12,367

Sep-10

12,111

Oct-10

12,367

Nov-10

12,565

Dec-10

12,729

Jan-11

12,925

Feb-11

13,272

Mar-11

13,464

Apr-11

13,678

May-11

13,969

Jun-11

14,197

Jul-11

14,465

Aug-11

14,781

Sep-11

15,129

Oct-11

15,423

Nov-11

15,695

Dec-11

15,938

Jan-12

16,159

Feb-12

16,491

Mar-12

16,687

Apr-12

16,939

May-12

17,268

Jun-12

17,568

Jul-12

17,924

Aug-12

18,227

Sep-12

18,591

Oct-12

18,888

Nov-12

19,201

Dec-12

19,542

Jan-13

19,849

Feb-13

20,157

Mar-13

20,447

Apr-13

20,700

May-13

20,993

Jun-13

21,397

Jul-13

21,915

Aug-13

22,946

Sep-13

23,560

Oct-13

23,699

Nov-13

23,793

Dec-13

23,949

Jan-14

24,196

Feb-14

24,450

Mar-14

24,646

Apr-14

24,789

The other certifications that were created in the past few years are outlined here.

The data:

Date

PgMP

PMI-RMP

PMI-SP

PMI-ACP

May-10

421

357

320

Jun-10

436

393

327

Jul-10

447

419

341

Aug-10

460

447

357

Sep-10

447

419

341

Oct-10

460

447

357

Nov-10

478

483

369

Dec-10

492

516

377

Jan-11

502

538

387

Feb-11

511

588

408

Mar-11

521

622

418

Apr-11

530

677

426

May-11

553

741

440

Jun-11

561

486

451

Jul-11

575

826

466

Aug-11

584

884

474

Sep-11

599

943

494

Oct-11

606

983

502

Nov-11

625

1,040

524

Dec-11

637

1,083

544

Jan-12

654

1,119

562

Feb-12

678

1,195

578

Mar-12

728

1,243

589

542

Apr-12

774

1,280

611

549

May-12

771

1,323

632

655

Jun-12

774

1,372

633

758

Jul-12

775

1,423

654

892

Aug-12

787

1,472

672

999

Sep-12

793

1,529

694

1,141

Oct-12

805

1,576

720

1,297

Nov-12

808

1,626

737

1,416

Dec-12

864

1,696

764

1,611

Jan-13

823

1,732

780

1,835

Feb-13

834

1,805

809

2,063

Mar-13

850

1,864

826

2,276

Apr-13

852

1,918

846

2,461

May-13

865

1,969

871

2,635

Jun-13

875

8,033

893

2,858

Jul-13

898

2,116

911

3,056

Aug-13

914

2,222

948

3,249

Sep-13

939

2,334

981

3,468

Oct-13

967

2,519

1,037

3,691

Nov-13

969

2,512

1,033

3,893

Dec-13

977

2,512

1,033

4,132

Jan-14

985

2,507

1,036

4,366

Feb-14

995

2,584

1,090

4,641

Mar-14

1,004

2,617

1,109

4,825

Apr-14

1,014

2,638

1,118

5,008

And, although they stopped giving this information, I always found it interesting to determine how many new members were coming in and how many were leaving. This may or may not be an indicator of the organizational health or relevance but it is a good trend line to watch. So, here is the monthly “new members” listing from September, 2006, to December, 2012.

Once again, the numbers:

Date

New members

Sep-06

4,025

Oct-06

3,225

Nov-06

3,224

Dec-06

4,301

Jan-07

3,330

Feb-07

3,468

Mar-07

5,635

Apr-07

3,776

May-07

3,844

Jun-07

4,232

Jul-07

3,949

Aug-07

4,071

Sep-07

3,909

Oct-07

4,018

Nov-07

4,509

Dec-07

4,767

Jan-08

3,213

Feb-08

3,773

Mar-08

3,797

Apr-08

3,989

May-08

3,613

Jun-08

4,380

Jul-08

4,651

Aug-08

4,358

Sep-08

4,070

Oct-08

4,568

Nov-08

4,500

Dec-08

6,109

Jan-09

4,605

Feb-09

4,305

Mar-09

5,000

Apr-09

6,021

May-09

8,419

Jun-09

13,920

Jul-09

689

Aug-09

2,770

Sep-09

3,100

Oct-09

3,102

Nov-09

3,726

Dec-09

5,403

Jan-10

3,714

Feb-10

3,713

Mar-10

5,344

Apr-10

4,718

May-10

3,985

Jun-10

4,630

Jul-10

3,687

Aug-10

3,965

Sep-10

8,142

Oct-10

9,245

Nov-10

9,719

Dec-10

9,624

Jan-11

8,502

Feb-11

7,803

Mar-11

11,159

Apr-11

9,750

May-11

11,681

Jun-11

11,372

Jul-11

12,309

Aug-11

12,410

Sep-11

12,265

Oct-11

10,681

Nov-11

9,204

Dec-11

10,013

Jan-12

8,672

Feb-12

7,759

Mar-12

11,034

Apr-12

10,485

May-12

13,410

Jun-12

10,742

Jul-12

11,662

Aug-12

9,539

Sep-12

11,013

Oct-12

10,885

Nov-12

10,786

Dec-12

14,562

Since they stopped giving new membership information, I went ahead and did some math behind the monthly number of memberships overall to see the overall trendline. It is great to know the number of new members, but if the number of members leaving is greater than the number of new members, then that might be concerning. In looking at the data, there must have been some data scrubbing done in October and November 2010 as those two months are wildly out of the normal data distribution.